LINTHWAITE have endured a torrid time this season.

The Cedar Court Conference club lost high-scoring all-rounder Imran Malik just before the start, were dumped out of the Sykes Cup in the first round by Central League Hoylandswaine, were without West Indian international ace Deighton Butler for the first half dozen games and have still to win a match of any kind!

The Cedar Court Conference club lost high-scoring all-rounder Imran Malik just before the start, were dumped out of the Sykes Cup in the first round by Central League Hoylandswaine, were without West Indian international ace Deighton Butler for the first half dozen games and have still to win a match of any kind!

But Butler, who will 34 a week on Monday, at least gave some indication with his recent ton against Kirkburton that he is hungry for runs and wickets to continue the good form he displayed during the winter.

Left hander Butler, who has played five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 for West Indies, skippered his home island team St Vincent in the Stanford 20/20 Tournament and helped them to the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Trinidad.

Later on, he captained the Windward Islands (of which St Vincent is a component part) in the Carib Beer Cup before suffering a knee injury.

“I damaged my left knee during the fifth match against Jamaica (in St Elizabeth on March 14/15), which left me needing surgery,” explained Butler.

“I’ve been to the physio this week and it’s about 90% right now. I’ve been bowling off a shortish run since I arrived, but I have been working hard in the gym, and I’m feeling better all the time.”

Butler is no stranger to the English game, having spent four seasons at Evenwood in the North-East.

But in contrast to the Durham County League, he is finding it tough with the Colne Valley side, where he is suffering from a lack of quality support.

“We need every one in the team to chip in, so that I can play with freedom, which ultimately will benefit the side,” said Butler.

“As a bowler, I am there to provide chances. No bowler can be expected to hit the stumps every time, so you provide chances in the hope that the majority will be taken by your fielders.

“If you spill a lot of those chances, which we have been doing, you find that instead of taking 10 wickets you are having to try and take 17!

“Likewise when you’re batting, it boils down to how well you play as a team and batting for the whole 50 overs. All these things add up and make a difference.

“In the games I’ve played in this season, it makes the difference between winning and losing.

“In the game against Lepton we were 127-3 at one stage, and then collapse to 173 all out – and lost.

“Now I’m asking our guys to come to training so we can do some serious work on our catching and proper batting practice.

“Too many people see net practice as a chance to try and whack the ball every delivery and it shouldn’t be like that.

“The 10 minutes you spend in the nets should be like the first 10 minutes of an innings out in the middle.

“What you practice is what you do in the game. We need players who say ‘I’m here for the long haul.’!

“At the moment when I go out to bat I’m thinking ‘I can’t afford to get out,’ so therefore I’m batting more carefully than I would naturally be.

“I want to put the bowlers under pressure and if the ball is there I want to hit it.

“The way things are now when I see a leg-side half-volley, I’m playing it for a single instead of putting it out of the ground. And then next over I can be out caught and bowled!

“My natural game is to play with freedom.

“I don’t necessarily go out to bat all 50 overs. If I score a ton, it’s more likely to have come from 70 balls.”

It was originally intended that Butler would skipper the side once he arrived, but it’s now been decided too much is already resting on his shoulders, and Dale Brooke has taken over the captaincy for the time being.

“Obviously we’ve not been doing as well as we should, and hopefully, by relieving Deighton of the captain’s duties, it will allow him to concentrate on his own performance,” explained club spokesman Steve Hime.

“It was a big loss when Imran failed to re-appear this season. He went back home to get married, and that’s the last we heard of him. And of course, now should he return, he will be classed as an overseas player again.

“Last season he scored over 800 runs and took nearly 40 and obviously took a lot of pressure off Deighton.

“We finished fourth in our section last summer and jointly won the Hopkinson Trophy, after winning our last eight games, and would have won it outright if Clayton West had not managed to inflict a first defeat of the season on Barkisland in the final game.

“Indeed, had Malik come back for the start of the season, I would have backed us to be up there or thereabouts.

“We have some really good prospects like Lee Renwick and Jordan Fernyhough who I’m sure are going to be top cricketers.

“And we also have plenty more young players with potential, but they need to learn and listen, and they should be seeking advice from our pro.

“Saifur Rehman is a classic example. He’s come up through the seconds and was one of the few who asked Deighton for help last year, and he has improved tremendously this season.

“Muhammed Ihsan has done okay for us since joining from Broomfield in the Saddleworth League.

“He started off well, but has had a few poor knocks in recent weeks, while Gavin Brooke (Dale’s brother) had a couple of really good knocks, partnering Deighton in a good stand at Kirkburton.

“But what we really need is a couple of good ‘old heads’.

“If we had that, I think we would be all right.

“I’ve been here 26 years myself, and I just don’t want this club to go to rack and ruin.”